Information processing system, information processing method, information processing program, and computer-readable recording medium on which information processing program is stored

ABSTRACT

When a game operation image is displayed on a touch panel of a portable terminal, the size of a game display screen and the operation image are small and therefore the progress of a game becomes difficult. Even in the case of a terminal having only a touch panel of a limited size, an operation image having a size that affects the progress of a game as little as possible is displayed on the touch panel by superimposing the operation image on a game display screen at a position that affects the progress of the game as little as possible.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information processing system, aninformation processing method, an information processing program, and acomputer-readable recording medium having an information processingprogram stored thereon.

BACKGROUND ART

There is known a technology for executing a game program, which isproduced to be executed on a dedicated machine, on a different device orthe like by using an emulator. The game is produced to be executed on adevice dedicated for the game, and is produced on the assumption that adedicated controller is used for an operation of the game program.

Thus, for example, when the game program is executed on a differentdevice which does not include the dedicated controller, an operationunit of the different device may not correspond to the dedicatedcontroller.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

In this case, it is conceivable to display an operation imagecorresponding to the controller on a display screen of the game programon a touch panel of the different device. However, for example, when thedifferent device is a portable terminal including a touch panel, thetouch panel may not have a sufficient size, and the display screen ofthe game program is thus limited by the size of the touch panel, and maybe forced to be small. On this occasion, the display screen of the gameprogram needs to be further reduced for display by an area required fordisplaying the operation image. In this case, the user may not acquiresufficient information from the display screen, and the size of thedisplayed operation image becomes small so that it is difficult tooperate.

One or more embodiments of the present invention has been devised inview of the foregoing problem, and has an object to provide aninformation processing system, an information processing method, aninformation processing program, and a computer-readable recording mediumhaving the information processing program stored thereon, which candisplay, even on a terminal having only a touch panel in a limited sizesuch as a touch panel of a portable terminal, an operation image havinga size affecting a progress of a game as little as possible on the touchpanel at a position affecting the progress of the game as little aspossible by superimposing the operation image on a display screen of thegame, thereby enabling a user to smoothly operate the game.

Solution to Problem

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, aninformation processing system includes: a terminal informationacquisition unit configured to acquire terminal information representinga type of a terminal provided with a touch panel; a programidentification information acquisition unit configured to acquireprogram identification information for identifying a program so as toprocess in accordance with an operation signal output from apredetermined operation unit; a storage unit configured to store settinginformation including operation image identification information foridentifying an operation image to be displayed on the touch panel,display position information representing a display position of theoperation image, and conversion information for converting a touchoperation signal directed to the operation image into the operationsignal. The operation image identification information, the displayposition information, and the conversion information are stored inassociation with the terminal information and the program identificationinformation. The information processing system also includes a settinginformation acquisition unit configured to acquire the settinginformation from the storage unit based on the acquired terminalinformation and the acquired program identification information; anexecution unit configured to execute a program identified by theacquired program identification information; an image informationgeneration unit configured to generate, based on the setting informationacquired by the setting information acquisition unit, superimposed imageinformation formed by superimposing the operation image on an imagegenerated by the execution unit; and a signal conversion unit configuredto convert, based on the conversion information, the touch operationsignal into the operation signal. The execution unit executes theprogram based on the converted operation signal.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, aninformation processing method includes: acquiring terminal informationrepresenting a type of a terminal provided with a touch panel; acquiringprogram identification information for identifying a program forcarrying out processing in accordance with an operation signal outputfrom a predetermined operation unit; storing setting informationincluding operation image identification information for identifying anoperation image to be displayed on the touch panel, display positioninformation representing a display position of the operation image, andconversion information for converting a touch operation signal directedto the operation image into the operation signal, the operation imageidentification information. The display position information, and theconversion information are associated with the terminal information andthe program identification information. The information processingmethod also includes: acquiring the setting information based on theacquired terminal information and the acquired program identificationinformation; executing a program identified by the acquired programidentification information; generating, based on the acquired settinginformation, superimposed image information formed by superimposing theoperation image on an image generated in the executing; converting,based on the conversion information, the touch operation signal into theoperation signal; and executing the program based on the convertedoperation signal.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, aninformation processing program causes a computer to function as: aterminal information acquisition unit configured to acquire terminalinformation representing a type of a terminal provided with a touchpanel; a program identification information acquisition unit configuredto acquire program identification information for identifying a programfor carrying out processing in accordance with an operation signaloutput from a predetermined operation unit; a storage unit configured tostore setting information including operation image identificationinformation for identifying an operation image to be displayed on thetouch panel, display position information representing a displayposition of the operation image, and conversion information forconverting a touch operation signal directed to the operation image intothe operation signal. The operation image identification information,the display position information, and the conversion information areassociated with the terminal information and the program identificationinformation. The information processing program also causes a computerto function as: a setting information acquisition unit configured toacquire the setting information from the storage unit based on theacquired terminal information and the acquired program identificationinformation; an execution unit configured to execute a programidentified by the acquired program identification information; an imageinformation generation unit configured to generate, based on the settinginformation acquired by the setting information acquisition unit,superimposed image information formed by superimposing the operationimage on an image generated by the execution unit; and a signalconversion unit configured to convert, based on the conversioninformation, the touch operation signal into the operation signal. Theexecution unit executes the program based on the converted operationsignal.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

It is possible to provide the information processing system, theinformation processing method, the information processing program, andthe computer-readable recording medium having an information processingprogram stored thereon, which can display the operation image on thetouch panel of the terminal at the position and/or in the size thataffects a progress of a program as little as possible by superimposingthe operation image on a display screen of the program, thereby enablinga user to smoothly operate the program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A diagram illustrating an overview of a hardware configuration ofan information processing system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 A diagram illustrating an example of an exterior of a terminalaccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 A diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the terminalaccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 A diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a serveraccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 A diagram illustrating a state of storage in a settinginformation storage module according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 A diagram illustrating setting information according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 Diagrams illustrating operation images according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 A diagram illustrating an example of a display screen displayedon the terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 A diagram illustrating an overview of processing by theinformation processing system according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 A flowchart illustrating a flow on the server until a programstarts according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 A flowchart illustrating a flow on the server after the programis started by an execution module until the program is finishedaccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 A diagram illustrating a functional configuration of theterminal according to a modified example of the present invention.

FIG. 13 A diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the serveraccording to the modified example of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A description is now given of an embodiment of the present inventionreferring to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or similarcomponents are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a duplicateddescription thereof is therefore omitted.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a hardware configurationof an information processing system according to the embodiment of thepresent invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an information processingsystem 100 includes a server 110 and a terminal 120 connected to eachother via a network 130 (such as the Internet). Although the informationprocessing system 100 in FIG. 1 shows only one terminal 120, theinformation processing system 100 may include a plurality of otherterminals 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the server 110 includes a control unit 111, astorage unit 112, and a communication unit 113. Moreover, the controlunit 111, the storage unit 112, and the communication unit 113 areconnected to one another via a bus 114. The control unit 111 is, forexample, a CPU, and operates in accordance with a program stored in thestorage unit 112. The storage unit 112 includes an information recordingmedium such as a hard disk drive, a ROM, or a RAM, and is an informationrecording medium storing programs executed by the control unit 111.Moreover, the storage unit 112 also operates as a work memory for thecontrol unit 111. The communication unit 113 is, for example, a networkinterface, and, in accordance with an instruction from the control unit111, transmits/receives information via the network 130.

The terminal 120 includes a control unit 121, a communication unit 122,a storage unit 123, a display unit 124, and an operation unit 125.Similarly, the respective units 121 to 125 are connected to one anothervia a bus 126. As in the above-mentioned server 110, the control unit121 is, for example, a CPU, and operates in accordance with a programstored in the storage unit 123. The communication unit 122 is a networkinterface, and, in accordance with an instruction from the control unit121, transmits/receives information via the network 130.

The storage unit 123 includes an information recording medium such as ahard disk, a ROM, or a RAM, and is an information recording mediumstoring programs executed by the control unit 121. Moreover, the storageunit 123 also operates as a work memory for the control unit 121. Thedisplay unit 124 is, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organicEL display, and displays information in accordance with an instructionfrom the control unit 121. The operation unit 125 includes, for example,an interface such as a keyboard, a mouse, a controller, and a button,and outputs, in response to an instruction operation by a user, detailsof the instruction operation to the control unit 121.

The programs processed by the control units 111 and 121 may bedownloaded and provided, for example, via a network, or may be providedby means of various computer-readable information recording media suchas a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM. Note that, the above-mentioned configurationsof the server 110 and the terminal 120 are examples, and are not limitedthereto. Moreover, a detailed description is given later as tofunctional configurations of the server 110 and the terminal 120.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an exterior of theterminal. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the terminal 120 (for example, aportable terminal) is in a shape of a substantially rectangular plate asa whole, and includes, on the surface, a touch panel 201 as the displayunit 124. The touch panel 201 is in a substantially rectangular shape,and includes a display and a touch sensor. Note that, the display is,for example, a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL displaypanel.

The touch sensor is disposed while being superposed on the display, andhas a detection surface in a shape corresponding to a display surface ofthe display. The touch sensor detects, for example, at a predeterminedtime interval, contact of an object such as the finger of the user or astylus on the detection surface, to thereby detect the operationinstruction by the user. Though the touch sensor may be, for example, acapacitive sensor, a pressure sensitive sensor, or an optical sensor,other type of sensor may be used as long as the sensor can detect thecontact of an object on the detection surface. Moreover, for example,the touch sensor may be configured to detect whether or not contact ismade by an object, and position information thereof as well as thedegree of a pressure applied on the detection surface by the contact ofthe object.

It should be understood that the terminal 120 may include, in additionto the touch panel 201, other input units such as a button, a switch,and an imaging sensor on a front surface or side surfaces of theterminal 120. Moreover, the exterior of the terminal 120 is not limitedto the above-mentioned exterior, and may be a different exterior whichcan achieve practically the same configuration, can provide the sameactions and effects, or can achieve the same object as the configurationdescribed in the embodiment.

A description is now given of the functional configuration of theterminal 120. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the functionalconfiguration of the terminal. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the terminal120 includes the touch panel 201, a terminal-side touch operation signalacquisition module 301, a program identification informationtransmission module 302, a terminal information transmission module 303,an image information acquisition module 304, and an image informationreproduction module 305.

The terminal-side touch operation signal acquisition module 301 acquiresa touch operation signal input to the touch panel 201, and transmits thetouch operation signal to the server 110. On this occasion, the touchoperation signal corresponds to an operation instruction signal by theuser detected by the touch sensor of the touch panel 201. The programidentification information transmission module 302 acquires programidentification information for identifying a program specified by theuser, and transmits the acquired program identification information tothe server 110. As used herein, the program identification informationmeans information for identifying a program specified by the user, andis input by using, for example, the touch panel 201 of the terminal 120and other buttons.

The terminal information transmission module 303 acquires terminalinformation stored in a terminal information storage module 306, andtransmits the terminal information to the server 110. As used herein,the terminal information means information for identifying a type of theterminal 120, and corresponds to, for example, information such as amodel number assigned in advance for each type of the terminal. Theimage information acquisition unit 304 acquires image informationtransmitted from the server 110. Note that, the image information isdescribed in detail later. The image information reproduction unit 305reproduces the acquired image information on the touch panel 201.

Note that, the functional configuration of the terminal 120 is notlimited to the above-mentioned configuration, and may be replaced bypractically the same configuration, a configuration which provides thesame actions and effects, or a configuration which can achieve the sameobject as the configuration described in the embodiment. For example,though only the touch panel 201 is illustrated as the operation unit 125in FIG. 3, the terminal 120 may have a configuration which includes oneor more buttons and other input units, acquires the touch operationsignal, the program identification information, and the like via anoperation on the buttons and the like, and transmits the signal, theinformation, and the like to the server 110.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of theserver. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the server 110 includes a terminalinformation acquisition module 401, a program identification informationacquisition module 402, a setting information acquisition module 403, asetting information storage module 404, a touch operation signalacquisition module 405, a signal conversion module 406, an executionmodule 407, a program storage module 408, an image informationgeneration module 409, and a transmission module 410.

The terminal information acquisition module 401 acquires the terminalinformation representing the type of the terminal 120 from the terminal120. The program identification information acquisition module 402acquires, from the terminal 120, program identification information foridentifying a program (such as a desired game program) selected by theuser using the terminal 120. The setting information acquisition module403 acquires, based on the acquired terminal information and programidentification information, from the setting information storage module404, setting information stored in association with the terminalinformation and the program identification information. Note that, thesetting information storage module 404 may be included in the storageunit 112 of the server 110, or may be included in a database (not shown)which is outside the server 110 and is connected via the network 130.

Specifically, for example, the setting information storage module 404stores, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the terminal information, the programidentification information (program ID) and a file name of a settingfile (setting file name) in a tabular form. Moreover, the setting fileincludes information on an operation image to be displayed on the touchpanel 201 of the terminal 120, and conversion information for convertingthe touch operation signal into an operation signal assumed in advanceby a program. Specifically, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, thesetting file stores an operation image information ID, arrangementinformation, size information, transparency information, a conversionrule address, and an assignment information address in a tabular form.

On this occasion, the operation image information ID corresponds toinformation for identifying an operation image for an operation unitdisplayed on the touch panel 201. The arrangement informationcorresponds to information representing a display position of theoperation image on the touch panel 201, and includes, for example, an xcoordinate and a y coordinate set on the touch panel 201. The sizeinformation is information representing a size of the operation image,and, for example, includes sizes in the x direction and the y directionset on the touch panel 201. The transparency information corresponds toinformation representing a transparency of the operation image, andrepresenting the transparency by a numerical value ranging, for example,from 0 to 100. The conversion rule address is an address for aconversion rule for converting the touch operation signal into anoperation signal assumed in advance in a program. The assignmentinformation address corresponds to, for example, information on how toassign each of input signals (touch operation signals) on the operationimage to each of input signals (operation signals) on an operation unitsuch as an existing controller assumed in the program. For example, aninput on an operation image representing a button is assigned to aninput on an “a” button of an existing controller, and an input on an upkey of an operation image representing a cross key described later isassigned to an input on an up key of a cross key of the existingcontroller.

More specifically, for example, in the examples illustrated in FIG. 5and FIG. 6, in the setting information storage module 404, when theacquired terminal information and program identification information arerespectively t1 and P1, the setting information acquisition module 403acquires a setting file name f11. Then, when a content of the settingfile name f11 corresponds to the case of FIG. 6, the setting informationacquisition module 403 acquires operation image information IDs i1 andi2, and arrangement information, size information, transparencyinformation, conversion rules, and assignment information correspondingto the operation image information IDs as the setting information. Inother words, the operation image having the operation image informationID of i1 is displayed at a position having an x coordinate of 320 and ay coordinate of 160 of coordinates set on the touch panel 201, in a sizeof 160 in the x direction and a size of 160 in the y directionrepresented by the size information, and at a transparency of 50 inalpha value. Then, in accordance with a conversion rule having aconversion rule address r1, the input signal (touch operation signal) onthe operation image is converted, and the touch operation signal isassigned to an input signal (operation signal) on an operation unit ofan existing controller or the like by the assignment information havingan assignment information address al. The same holds true for theoperation image information ID of i2, and a description thereof istherefore omitted. Moreover, though the two operation images representedby the operation image information IDs of i1 and i2 are to be displayedin the case of FIG. 6, it should be understood that other number ofoperation image information IDs can be stored.

A detailed description is now given of the operation image information.The operation image information represented by an operation imageinformation ID is, for example, image information for generatingoperation images displayed on the touch panel 201 as illustrated inFIGS. 7(A) to 7(E).

FIG. 7(A) illustrates an example of the operation image displaying aso-called cross key (digital cross button). For example, as illustratedin FIG. 7(A), the operation image includes portions that correspond toan up direction key 701, a down direction key 702, a left direction key703, and a right direction key 704. Then, when the respective directionkeys 701 to 704 are displayed on the touch panel 201, the terminal-sidetouch operation signal acquisition module 301 acquires an operationsignal representing whether or not each of the direction keys 701 to 704is touched as the touch operation signal.

FIG. 7(B) illustrates an example of an operation image corresponding toa so-called analog operation unit. For example, when the operation imageis displayed on the touch panel 201, a signal corresponding to aposition and a distance of a moving portion 705 of the operation imagewith respect to a peripheral portion 706 thereof is detected as thetouch operation signal. Specifically, for example, the user moves themoving portion 705 up/down or left/right, and an output corresponding toa position and a distance of the moving portion 705 with respect to theperipheral portion 706 is acquired as the touch operation signal by theterminal-side touch operation signal acquisition module 301. In otherwords, this configuration acquires not digital information representingwhether or not a certain direction key is touched as in the case of thecross key, but an output corresponding to the position and the distanceof the moving portion with respect to the peripheral portion, and themoving portion and the peripheral portion thus correspond to the analogoperation unit.

FIG. 7(C) illustrates an example of an operation image corresponding toa so-called button. When this operation image is displayed on the touchpanel 201, whether or not the button is touched is acquired by theterminal-side touch operation signal acquisition module 301 as the touchoperation signal. Note that, the degree of the pressure applied to thebutton may also be detected, and an output corresponding to the pressuremay be acquired. The shape of the operation image may be, for example, arectangular shape as illustrated in FIG. 7(C), a circular shape asillustrated in FIG. 7(D), or other shapes.

FIG. 7(E) illustrates an example of an operation image corresponding toa so-called scratch pad. Specifically, for example, the terminal-sidetouch operation signal acquisition module 301 detects positioninformation on a position touched by the finger of the user or the likeon the displayed scratch pad, to thereby detect the instructionoperation by the user as the touch operation signal. Note that, thedegree of the pressure applied to the scratch pad may also be detected,and an output corresponding to the pressure may be acquired. Moreover,for example, a tap operation of tapping the scratch pad may be assignedto an arbitrary button of a controller assumed in advance by a program.

The above-mentioned setting information is examples, and is not limitedto the above-mentioned examples. For example, the setting informationstorage module 404 may further store the user ID in association with theterminal information, the program identification information, and thesetting file name, and the setting information acquisition module 403may acquire the setting information based on the terminal information,the program identification information, and the user ID. Moreover,though the description has been given of the operation images, inanother case where the terminal 120 includes an acceleration sensorwhich can detect an acceleration, a displacement, a yaw, and the like inthe three-dimensional space, the setting information storage module 404may store addresses of conversion rules and assignment information forthe acceleration sensor. In this case, conversion rules and assignmentinformation for detected values of the acceleration, the displacement,and the yaw are stored. Further, it should be understood that thesetting information may similarly include conversion rules, assignmentinformation, and the like for other input units such as a buttonincluded in the terminal 120.

The touch operation signal acquisition module 405 acquires, from theterminal 120, the above-mentioned touch operation signal. As describedabove, the touch operation signal corresponds to, for example, anoperation signal generated at a predetermined time interval by the userbased on contact, on the detection surface, of an object such as thefinger of the user or a stylus. The signal conversion module 406converts the touch operation signal acquired by the touch operationsignal acquisition module 405 into an operation signal based on thesetting information acquired by the setting information acquisitionmodule 403. Specifically, the signal conversion module 406 converts,based on the acquired conversion rule and assignment information, thetouch operation signal into an operation signal, and the executionmodule 407 acquires the operation signal.

For example, the conversion rule is, when the operation image is a crosskey, a rule for converting from an input signal (touch operation signal)for the x or y direction of the cross key to an input signal (operationsignal) of an existing controller, and corresponds to, for example, whenan touch operation signal representing a continuous movement is input onan operation image, conversion into an operation signal increased inacceleration by 5%. Moreover, the conversion rule may include a rule foradjusting a sensitivity of the touch operation signal. For example, fora predetermined touch operation signal (for example, a touch operationsignal considered as noise), for example, the value of an operationsignal converted therefrom is set to zero.

The execution module 407 acquires, based on the program identificationinformation from the program identification information acquisitionmodule 402, from the program storage module 408, a program indicated bythe program identification information, and executes the program.Moreover, the operation of the program by the execution module 407 isexecuted based not on the touch operation signal, but on theabove-mentioned operation signal. As a result, a program produced forexecution on a dedicated device can be executed on the informationprocessing system 100 according to this embodiment. Moreover, forexample, the execution module 407 is formed by an emulator. Further, theprogram storage module 408 stores program identification information anda program in association with each other. Note that, the program storagemodule 408 may include the storage unit 112 of the server 110, or mayinclude a database (not shown) or the like external to the server 110.

The image information generation module 409 generates an operation imagebased on the arrangement information, the size information, and thetransparency information corresponding to the acquired operation imageinformation ID, thereby generating superimposed image information whichis the operation image superimposed on the image information generatedby the execution module 407 for display. Specifically, for example, whena description is given referring to the example in FIG. 6, the imageinformation generation module 409 generates image information fordisplaying the operation image (such as the operation image of the crosskey) having the operation image information ID of i1 at a location of320 in the x coordinate and 160 in the y coordinate, in the sizerepresented by 160, and at the transparency of 50 to be superimposed onthe image information generated by the execution module 407. On thisoccasion, the arrangement information for the operation image is set, inadvance, to a location which does not interfere with the progress of theprogram made by the user, and the size information on the operationimage is set to a size which does not interfere with the progress of theprogram as well. More specifically, a description is given of an exampleof FIG. 8 illustrating a state where the program is a program for a racegame, and the display screen for the race game is displayed on theterminal 120.

For example, on the display screen of the race game, it is consideredthat information, which is important for the progress of the game forthe user, includes an image representing a vehicle 801 operated by theuser and an image representing a course 802 of the race, and otherportions are not particularly important for the progress itself of thegame. Thus, the arrangement information may be set so that operationimages 803 to 805 are arranged on portions representing a backgroundoutside the course 802. Moreover, the size information may be set torealize a size which does not obstruct the display of the vehicle 801and the course 802 even when the finger of the user or the like isplaced on the operation image, and simultaneously promotes the operationby the user.

Moreover, when the operation image 803 and the like are displayed whilebeing superimposed on a score display and the like (not shown in FIG.8), the operation image 803 is set to have a certain level oftransparency (such as a transparency having an alpha value of 50),thereby enabling the user to refer to the score display as necessary(for example, when a pose is instructed). For example, it should beunderstood that, when it is considered that the image information at theposition is information which is not important or is not necessary forthe progress of the game, the transparency may be set to an alpha valueof 100 (for example, corresponding to a value representingnon-transparency). Moreover, the transmission module 410 transmits thesuperimposed image generated by the image information generation module409 as described above to the terminal 120.

Note that, the functional configurations of the terminal 120 and theserver 110 are not limited to the above-mentioned configurations, andmay be replaced by practically the same configurations, configurationswhich provide the same actions and effects, or configurations which canachieve the same object as the configurations described in theembodiment. For example, the above-mentioned functions of the server 110in part or entirety may be included in the terminal 120, or thefunctions of the terminal 120 in part or entirety may be included in theserver 110. For example, though the description has been given of theconfiguration where the server 110 includes the signal conversion module406, the terminal 120 may include the signal conversion module 406, theserver 110 may acquire the touch operation signal (corresponding to theoperation signal) converted by the signal conversion module 406, and theexecution module 407 may acquire the operation signal. Moreover, forexample, when the terminal 120 is a game machine, and has a highprocessing performance, the execution module 407, the image informationgeneration module 409, and the like may be formed on the terminal 120,and the terminal 120 may transmit the superimposed image via the network130 to another terminal 120.

Moreover, the server 110 and the terminal 120 may include a compressionmodule and a decompression module which are omitted for the sake ofsimple illustration in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this case, the compressionmodule of the server 110 compresses, for example, the image informationgenerated by the image information generation module 409, and thetransmission module 410 transmits the compressed image information tothe terminal 120. On the other hand, the decompression module of theterminal 120 decompresses the image information acquired from the server110, and the image information reproduction module 305 reproduces thedecompressed image information.

Now, referring to FIG. 9, a description is given of an overview of aflow of processing by the information processing system 100 according tothis embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the terminal informationtransmission module 303 acquires the terminal information on theterminal 120 from the terminal information storage module 306, andtransmits the terminal information to the server 110. Then, the terminalinformation acquisition module 401 of the server 110 acquires theterminal information (S101).

Moreover, the user selects a desired program by operating the operationunit 125 (such as the touch panel 201) of the terminal 120. As a result,the program identification information transmission module 302 transmitsprogram identification information on the program to the server 110, andthe program identification information acquisition module 402 of theserver 110 acquires the program identification information (S102).

Then, when the start of the program is instructed by the terminal 120,the execution module 407 executes the program as described above. Then,the image information on which the operation image generated by theimage information generation module 409 is superimposed is transmittedto the terminal 120 (S103). Note that, the image information in thiscase may be compressed image information as described above. In thisway, for example, by means of the so-called streaming, the imageinformation is displayed on the touch panel 201 of the terminal 120.Then, when the end of the program is instructed by the terminal 120, theexecution module 407 finishes the execution of the program, and ends theprocessing (S104).

It should be understood that the streaming may include soundinformation. Moreover, though the description has been given of the flowwhere the terminal 120 transmits the program identification informationand the terminal information in S101 and S102 for the sake of simplicityof description, the flow may be such a different flow that, before S101,a flow of transmitting a user ID and a password from the terminal 120 tothe server 110, a flow of transmitting an authentication result from theserver 110, and the like are provided, and, on this occasion, theterminal information is transmitted from the terminal 120 as long as theflow can attain practically the same actions and effects or object asthe above-mentioned flow.

A more detailed description is now given of a flow of processing by theserver 110 according to this embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchartillustrating a flow on the server until a program starts. As illustratedin FIG. 10, the terminal information acquisition unit 401 acquires, fromthe terminal 120, terminal information representing the type of theterminal 120 (S201). The program identification information acquisitionmodule 402 acquires, from the terminal 120, the program identificationinformation (S202). Specifically, for example, the programidentification information is acquired when the user uses the operationunit 125 (such as the touch panel 201) of the terminal 120 to select adesired program. The setting information acquisition module 403 acquiresthe setting information from the setting information storage module 404based on the acquired terminal information and program identificationinformation (S203).

The execution module 407 starts the execution of the program representedby the program identification information (S204). The execution of theprogram is carried out by, for example, the user using the operationunit 125 (such as the touch panel 201) of the terminal 120 to instructthe start of the execution of the program. The image informationgeneration module 409 generates the image information (superimposedimage information) to display the operation image generated based on thesetting information while superimposing the operation image on the imageinformation generated by the execution of the program (S205). Then, thetransmission module 410 transmits the superimposed image information tothe terminal 120 (S206).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a flow on the server after theprogram is started by the execution module until the program isfinished. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the touch operation signalacquisition module 405 acquires the touch operation signal from theterminal 120 (S301). The signal conversion module 406 converts the touchoperation signal into the operation signal based on the settinginformation (S302).

The execution module 407 determines whether or not the operation signalrepresents the end of the program (S303). When the operation signal isan operation signal other than that representing the end of the program,the execution module 407 carries out processing in accordance with theoperation signal (S304). Then, the flow returns to S301. On the otherhand, when the operation signal represents the end of the program, theexecution module 407 stops the program, and ends the processing (S305).

The flow of the information processing system is not limited to theabove-mentioned flow, and may be replaced by a flow which provides thesame actions and effects or a flow which can achieve the same object asthe flow described in the above-mentioned flow.

Note that, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentionedembodiment, and may be replaced by practically the same configuration, aconfiguration which provides the same actions and effects, or aconfiguration which can achieve the same object as the configurationdescribed in the embodiment.

Modified Example

A description is now given of a modified example of the presentinvention. Note that, a description is not given of the same points asthose of the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a functionalconfiguration of the terminal according to this modified example. Asillustrated in FIG. 12, the terminal 120 according to this modifiedexample further includes a custom information transmission module 307.The custom information transmission module 307 transmits custominformation input by the user via the touch panel 201 or the like to theserver 110. As used herein, the custom information means information forchanging the setting information by the user, and is information forchanging setting information on, for example, the arrangement and size,the assignment information, and the conversion rule for a certainoperation image. Specifically, the custom information is, for example,information for changing, when the user often uses an operation imagecorresponding to a specific button in a certain program, the position ofthe operation image to a place where the user can more readily operatethe operation image, and for assigning a specific plurality of operationimages corresponding to a combination of a specific plurality of buttonsto one operation image.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of theserver according to this modified example. As illustrated in FIG. 13,the server 110 according to this modified example further includes acustom information acquisition module 411. The custom informationacquisition module 411 acquires the custom information from the terminal120. The setting information acquisition module 403 modifies, based onthe custom information, corresponding setting information stored in thesetting information storage module 404. Then, based on the acquiredterminal information and program identification information, themodified setting information is acquired from the setting informationstorage module 404. The other components carry out the same processingas those of the embodiment, and a detailed description thereof istherefore omitted.

Note that, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentionedembodiment and the modified example, and may be replaced by practicallythe same configuration, a configuration which provides the same actionsand effects, or a configuration which can achieve the same object as theconfiguration described in the embodiment and the modified example. Forexample, the setting information changed by a user may be referred to byanother user. Moreover, a plurality of pieces of setting information maybe stored for the same terminal information and program identificationinformation, and a user may select a desired piece of settinginformation from the plurality of pieces of setting information.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A terminal having a processor comprising: a touchoperation signal acquisition module for acquiring input from a user on atouch screen of the terminal, a program identification informationtransmission module configured to acquire program identificationinformation from a user for identifying a program selected by a userutilizing the touch screen, and transmit the program identificationinformation to a server; a terminal information transmission module fortransmitting terminal information to the server; an image informationacquisition module for receiving, from the server, image information,wherein the received image information comprises a superimposed imageformed by superimposing an operating image on a program image, andwherein the received image information is determined based upon thetransmitted terminal information and transmitted program identificationinformation; and an image information reproduction module for displayingthe image information on a display screen of the terminal, wherein thedisplayed operating image is used to provide input to the program usingthe touch screen.
 13. The terminal according to claim 12, wherein atransparency of the operation image in the superimposed image isdetermined transmitted terminal information and transmitted programidentification information.
 14. The information processing systemaccording to claim 12, wherein the operation image is modified by a userusing the touch screen.
 15. The information processing system accordingto claim 12, wherein the program is executed on the terminal using anemulator.
 16. The terminal according to claim 12, further comprising: anacceleration sensor, wherein the acceleration sensor is used to provideinput to the program.
 17. The terminal according to claim 12, furthercomprising; a user identification transmission module for transmittinguser information identifying the user to the server, wherein thereceived image information is determined based upon the transmittedterminal information, the transmitted program identificationinformation, and the transmitted user information.
 18. The terminalaccording to claim 12, wherein the terminal information is retrievedfrom a terminal information storage module of the terminal.
 19. Aninformation processing method executed by a processor on a terminal,comprising: transmitting, using the processor, terminal informationrepresenting a type of the terminal to a server, acquiring programidentification information from a user for identifying a programselected by a user utilizing a touch screen of the terminal;transmitting, using the processor, the program identificationinformation to the server, receiving, from the server, imageinformation, wherein the received image information comprises asuperimposed image formed by superimposing an operating image on aprogram image, and wherein the received image information is determinedbased upon the transmitted terminal information and transmitted programidentification information; and displaying the image information on adisplay screen of the terminal, and providing input to the program usingthe operating image.